The Myth of the Existence of a Christian Nation - 1 views

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  #1 Gary Patton on 20 Jan 13

   

  "The Myth of the Existence of a Christian Nation"
  
  Messiah Jesus (Yeshua) came to earth and established His movement to serve the world with Christ-like love, among other reasons. He didn't die on His cross so His Followers could rule in any way in this age. Jesus Followers are called to "look like" both an individual and a collective Jesus.
  
  Individually, we are called to take up our cross daily on behalf of those who love us as well as those who hate, and even, persecute or try to kills us. We are commanded to actively and creatively resist evil, in all it's forms. But we must do so, Jesus says in Matthew 5:38-45 at http://diigo.com/0kmlr , non-violently ...even at the risk of our lives.
  
  In any one nation state, the ekklesia, the collective Body of Christ in that nation ...not the traditional institutional church... is NOT called to be a religious version of Caesar. Our secular states, not Jesus Followers, are to "bear the sword" against foreign and domestic enemies as Paul says in Romans 11.
  
  We are each called to manifest the kingdom of the cross in contrast to the kingdom of the sword. Whenever the traditional "church", rather than the real "ekklesia" has succeeded in gaining what many evangelicals in Canada and the U.S. are now trying to get ...political power... it has been disastrous both for the church and the culture, e.g., think about any manifestation of Christian political party, any where in the world.
  
  Whenever the church picks up the sword, it lays down the cross. The present activity of the so-called "religious right" in both Canada and the U.S. is destroying the heart and soul of true evangelicalism plus our unique witness to the world.
  
  The ekklesia is to have a political voice. And we are to have it the way Jesus had it ...by manifesting an alternative to the political, 'power over,' way of doing life. We are to transform the world by being willing to suffer for others, non-violently, as we allow Jesus to live His life out through us, not by getting our way in society through exercising non-supernatural, worldly power over institutions.
  
  No nation state is the Kingdom of God, in whole or in part.
  
  GaryFPatton (gfp '42™ 2013-01-18)

   

  <div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">"The Myth of the Existence of a Christian Nation" <br /> <br /> Messiah Jesus (Yeshua) came to earth and established His movement to serve the world with Christ-like love, among other reasons. He didn't die on His cross so His Followers could rule in any way in this age. Jesus Followers are called to "look like" both an individual and a collective Jesus. <br /> <br /> Individually, we are called to take up our cross daily on behalf of those who love us as well as those who hate, and even, persecute or try to kills us. We are commanded to actively and creatively resist evil, in all it's forms. But we must do so, Jesus says in Matthew 5:38-45 at <a href="http://diigo.com/0kmlr" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://diigo.com/0kmlr</a> , non-violently ...even at the risk of our lives. <br /> <br /> In any one nation state, the ekklesia, the collective Body of Christ in that nation ...not the traditional institutional church... is NOT called to be a religious version of Caesar. Our secular states, not Jesus Followers, are to "bear the sword" against foreign and domestic enemies as Paul says in Romans 11. <br /> <br /> We are each called to manifest the kingdom of the cross in contrast to the kingdom of the sword. Whenever the traditional "church", rather than the real "ekklesia" has succeeded in gaining what many evangelicals in Canada and the U.S. are now trying to get ...political power... it has been disastrous both for the church and the culture, e.g., think about any manifestation of Christian political party, any where in the world. <br /> <br /> Whenever the church picks up the sword, it lays down the cross. The present activity of the so-called "religious right" in both Canada and the U.S. is destroying the heart and soul of true evangelicalism plus our unique witness to the world. <br /> <br /> The ekklesia is to have a political voice. And we are to have it the way Jesus had it ...by manifesting an alternative to the political, 'power over,' way of doing life. We are to transform the world by being willing to suffer for others, non-violently, as we allow Jesus to live His life out through us, not by getting our way in society through exercising non-supernatural, worldly power over institutions. <br /> <br /> No nation state is the Kingdom of God, in whole or in part. <br /> <br /> GaryFPatton (gfp '42™ 2013-01-18)</div>

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